Families strive for healthy living at YMCA

CORNING - The Healthy Weight and Your Child pilot program at the YMCA of Greater Rochester, Corning Branch, which began in October, is now in its 11th week.

Seven families are now in the home stretch of the 15-week program that aims to instill healthy lifestyle habits. Program instructors said they’ve made a lot of progress.

“I think all of the kids and the adults have made behavior modifications in just the way they think about physical activity and the way they view nutrition,” YMCA health and wellness director Alicia Tyler said. “We’ve asked them to make a lot of changes within ten weeks. And behavior modification as we all know is not easy.”

“I think they’ve come a long way not only in just the classroom setting, but when we do the activities. You see kids that right away want to jump right in,” program activity director and YMCA personal trainer Bonnie Mann said.

The McClure family is among them.

The McClures aspired to begin a journey toward a healthier lifestyle when they began the program back in October.

“We wanted to be a healthier family together, and be more active. We thought it was a great opportunity,” Andrea McClure said.

And according to Chris McClure, it’s working.

“It’s made a difference,” he said.

The journey hasn’t been easy for them, they said, as they’ve had to embark on several lifestyle changes. This included changing some of their eating habits, checking nutrition labels more, and making healthier choices at the grocery store.

“We’ve made a lot of changes,” Andrea McClure said. “We used to eat out more, now we’re eating things at home. We’re planning our meals.”

But the program has been worth it, they said, and the family has come to enjoy it. Chris and Andrea McClure’s son, Aidan, likes to play racquetball and the variety of games that the kids participate in. It’s a reflection of how much the family has come to enjoy the program.

“It’s a commitment to come here twice a week. But it’s well worth it,” Andrea McClure said. “It’s really amazing to see how much these kids have learned just in the short time. Every week there’s a different lesson. It’s unbelievable what they’ve learned, because they’ve had to go through a lot of changes.”

“We haven’t missed a program, we love it so much. We just hope to learn more,” she said.

The YMCA said they will look to add to the program next year.

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